Lyallpur eye trust was a dream of Prof. Dr Muhammad Sultan HOD of Ophthalmology Department, Allied Hospital Punjab medical college Faisalabad Pakistan and Ex District Coordination Officer of Faisalabad Mr. Noor ul Amin Mangal and this non-profitable and humanitarian project was materialized by the present Deputy Commissioner Mr Salman Ghani.
This dream could not have become a reality if we had not have the support of the worthy members of the trust who contributed generously for the following noble objectives.
- To run Corneal retrieval program and establish Faisalabad Eye bank
- To initiate and execute various community eye care program
- To establish an institute of Ophthalmology in Faisalabad, Faisalabad is the third biggest city of Pakistan and famous for its textile industries it is surrounded by cities of agricultural regions.
Ophthalmology Department Allied Hospital Punjab Medical College has been catering the Eye diseases at its best with the best team of sailed and specialized Doctors with latest equipment at their hands
This is the only tertiary care unit in the catchment area of 40 Million population. In addition to serving the huge number of patients with eye diseases, it is also offering under and post graduate training courses like MBBS, DOMS MCPS FCPS, FRCS and second fellowship in Vitreo-Retina and Feds ophthalmology
In the catchment area of this Department the need analysis shows the 52 Million people are suffering from eye diseases out of which 156 thousand patients are corneal blind either in one eye or both. The only solution for a corneal blind person is transplantation of human corneas. There is no substitute of the corneas except the human corneal tissue. The available and accessible source of cornea is Nepal, Srilanka and USA. The services of corneal transplantation are very scanty and does not exist in Government Hospitals. The Ophthalmology Department, Allied Hospital Faisalabad is providing this service on regular basis for the last two years.
An Australian NGO, Fred Hollows Foundation joined hands with Eye Department in human resource development and providing equipment/instruments for corneal transplant services
On the basis of an MOU signed among Lyallpur eye trust, Fred Hollows foundation, Allied Hospital, Tilganga institute of ophthalmology Nepal Eye Department, the following Ophthalmologists got trained for Corneal transplantation and Eye banking from Tilganga institute of Ophthalmology Kathmandu, Nepal
In 2013 Dr Shahidza Najam ul Hassan (FCPS) Senior Registrar ophthalmology Department got training for eye banking 2014
Dr Qaisar Hanif Sheah (FCPS) Assistant Prof Ophthalmology got fellowship training in corneal transplantation In 2014,
Dr Muhammad Sultan (FCPS) Professor and HOD visited Nepal to see the wording of Nepal eye banking and Hospital Corneal retrieval program
This programme was in two phases, in short term programme, corneas are being imported from Nepal eye bank TIO and being transplanted to corneal blind patients in Eye Department Allied Hospital Faisalabad. In long term programme, the human corneas are to be retrieved from our own Pakistani nationals both in the Hospitals and outside.
In Phase one, there had been successful sessions of corneal transplant in which 100 corneas have been transplanted to corneal blinds.
In second phase Hospital Corneal programme is being initiated with the financial, legal and social help of Lyallpur Eye Trust working for this noble cause. It has provided eye donation counsellors, eye bank manager and IT personnel’s who will work in collaboration with Eye Department and Medical Superintendent Mr. Rashid Maqbool and his administrative team. The Eye Donation Counsellors were trained by the Ophthalmologist and psychologists.
To tackle with the religious constraints, Lyallpur Eye Trust collected authentic religious verdicts (Fatwas) from Islamic scholars of all sects and various national and international religious organizations.
There are no religious restrictions in donating and receiving the human corneas for the this purpose.
The EDC’s will motivate and encourage the people for the donation of corneas and peaceful execution of the project Simultaneously Faisalabad Eye bank will also be established for the storage and screening of the corneas. The volunteers for the corneal donors will be issued a Will-card duly signed by the authorized person of the trust Moreover the kins of the deceased will be encouraged to donate the corneas of their relatives in Allied Hospital or outside The Proper record shall be maintained. All working of this programme will be according to the rules and regulations laid down by Punjab Human Organ Transplantation Authority (PHOTA). All the stakeholders of the program have no financial interest in running this project.
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